Thursday, February 23, 2012

What do you get when you take rice, add some tasty ingredients to it, cook it on top of the stove until all the rice is tender and a crust forms on the bottom?

If you said paella, for sure you’d be right. But you’d also be right if you mentioned the classic rice dishes from a few other places around the globe.

Take China, for instance. While it might not have a specific name, you can get the popular rice dish at many restaurants in NYC’s Chinatown, and if a restaurant (most likely Hong Kong style) is offering it, it’s simply called rice in casserole on the menu. After trying a couple of versions around town, including an excellent one at a restaurant called A-Wah (recommended by a neighbor), I decided to make my own.

To start, you'll need one of these...

It’s called a sandy pot, or clay pot, and it’s made out of - you guessed it - sand and clay. Usually just glazed inside and on the lid. Before using a sandy pot for the first time, you should soak it overnight; according to a few other sources, it’s also a good idea to cook a little rice in it to seal up any microscopic cracks and crevices.I did both.

Wanting to make a version with chicken and mushrooms, which seems to be a favorite at the Chinese restaurants that offer the dish, I cut up a few chicken thighs, as well as 2 or 3 types of mushrooms which happened to be in the fridge. To punch up the flavor a bit, start by browning the thighs and mushrooms in a hot pan…

Then deglaze that pan before adding the thighs, mushrooms and deglazing liquid to the rice (medium-grain) in the sandy pot. For even more flavor, use a nice home made chicken stock, but water will work, and the standard ratio of rice to water (1 cup rice to 1 3/4 cups liquid) is fine too.It all looked like this, before being brought to a boil and then covered and cooked at a moderate simmer for around 20 minutes…

I think it helps to turn the heat up to medium for the last few minutes in order to get the rice nice and crispy on the bottom. I did okay on my first attempt…here’s what the dish looks like when it’s done, before garnishing with some chopped scallions and cilantro leaves...

Friday, February 10, 2012

Yesterday was our wedding anniversary, so Significant Eater and I decided that we should spend a good portion of the day involved with food and drink. Because after all, anniversaries are special, and we wanted to spend it doing something different…well, doing something that we both enjoy…a lot.

We were married in Las Vegas 14 years ago, and for dinner that night we wanted to eat at a Jean-Louis Palladin restaurant called Napa. Unfortunately, it was closed and we ended up at a restaurant called Fiori. I don’t remember what we ate that night, and I don’t have any pictures from dinner, but I’m pretty sure it was good; and though we didn't get to eat Jean-Louis' food, rest assured - he was one of the greatest chefs on the planet.

These days, when the two of us head out for a special meal, we try to pick a place we know is good…often an old favorite, sometimes a new one. And so yesterday for lunch, for the umpteenth time, we wound up at Momofuku Noodle Bar – the Momo that launched the career of another damn good chef. And yes, this time a camera came along.

We started with a nice "pot" of kimchi; trust me, this will keep all the vampires away...

One of the earliest dishes to grab attention for David Chang - the pork buns. Yesterday, a special bun made an appearance - this time it was brisket. With horseradish, pickled red onion and cucumber, it was maybe even more delicious than the original...

Since we always try to get our veggies, we had to have the baby greens salad, with apple, radish, chestnut and yes, duck proscuitto...

One of Sig Eater's old faves, roasted rice cakes, was on the daily blackboard menu, so...

To top it all off, another of the daily specials, showcasing duck, this time the leg/thigh meat cooked into a ragu with poblanos, cilantro and a fried egg to top it all off...

With only minimal pouting, we passed on dessert. After all, dinner at Acme was a mere 5 hours away.

I don't know that anything could be better than our 14 years together, but I'm sure looking forward to the next bunch of decades.